The ice-skating community is mourning the loss of the young athletes, their parents, and their coaches who died in Wednesday’s devastating plane crash in Washington D.C.
Some of the kids on the flight were coming from Wichita, Kansas after a national development camp.
KIRO 7 spoke with pair skaters Grace Hanns and Danny Neudecker, who grew up and trained as figure skaters in Seattle.
Hanns and Neudecker competed at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Kansas over the weekend, where the kids were at camp.
" They’re all posting stories and videos of their jumps and all this excitement. And then that turning into this absolute catastrophe is like, just so heart wrenching,” Neudecker said.
They say they saw the young athletes having fun and enjoying the competition. The camp gives the kids an opportunity to watch and learn from the pros.
“It was fun seeing them because they were all running around the building and in little groups. And it was just like, they were so excited. All the kids were so happy to be there,” Hanns explained.
Neudecker told KIRO 7 he vividly remembers 16-year-old Spencer Lane. Sadly, he was one of the victims in Wednesday’s crash.
“He was sitting in the front just like cheering us on and clapping. And I remember specifically recognizing that that was him. And then like two days, three days later to see that that [he] was among those who passed was like surreal,” laments Neudecker.
The pair is also mourning the parents and coaches who were on the flight.
“When you’re growing up, as a young kid especially, you’re at the rink half the day. Your coaches become your second parents. And so, when there’s loss of coaches, it’s like losing family,” Neudecker said.
This especially hit close to home for Hanns.
“As a coach myself, I’m like, I can’t even imagine that happening to one of my students. I don’t know how I would even handle that. So I just feel for all the families, all the coaches,” she said.
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